In the Shadows - Sebastian Sallow x reader (English)

Chapter 10

The next day, right after breakfast, we girlfriends set off for Hogsmeade. Excitedly, Poppy took my arm. "So? Did Sebastian ask you out last night?" I felt my face start to glow as I thought back to last night. "No. He said that he would like to go to the party with a certain girl, but hasn't dared to ask her yet. Of course, I didn't dare to ask him if he wanted to come with me." Poppy rolled her eyes and slapped my arm. "Damnit, Y/N! If you two keep dancing around like that, I'll tie you both up across from each other and interrogate you under veritaserum so that you can finally talk about your feelings!" "You're not that wrong about dancing around. Sebastian taught me how to waltz last night so I'd be prepared if I'd had a date", I admitted sheepishly. "You danced?" Nellie exclaimed in astonishment, drawing all the attention of the other passers-by to us. "Calm down! We were just dancing." We had stopped in front of Zonko's and I was nervously playing with my fingers. "And after the dance he gave me a kiss on the hand", I mumbled into my nonexistent beard. "HE DID WHAT?", my friends cried in unison and I wished I could vanish into thin air. "Y/N, how can you not tell he's got a crush on you? Even a blind man can see that!" Nellie stared at me in disbelief. "I heard that!", came a familiar voice from behind me. "What does a blind man see? And should I take it personally if I don't see it?" Omini's Gaunt appeared next to me, followed by Sebastian Sallow. As soon as I mention him, does he get summoned or what? "Yes, in that case, you should take it personally if you don't notice that... wait a minute. Come with me!" Nellie pulled Ominis around a corner a few meters away from us so that they could neither be seen nor heard. Sebastian shook his head in confusion and nonchalantly put an arm around my shoulders. Merlin, what is this now? A tingling spread in my stomach and although it was strange at first that Sebastian made physical contact with me in public, it felt damn good. "And what are your plans for today, apart from the secret-mongering?" "We wanted to stroll around and look for dresses for the party", Poppy chattered excitedly. Sebastian turned to me: "Has your chosen one finally asked you out?" You are my chosen one, you idiot! "N-no. Still not. How about your courage? Has it finally shown up?", I replied snippy. A laugh escaped Sebastian's throat. "You're bold. And no, I still didn't have the courage to ask her." "Cressida, are you okay? You look like you're about to burst", Natty stated with concern. The girl's head was bright red and her face twisted into a pained grimace. As if she was trying to hold something back. Meanwhile, Nellie and Ominis rejoined our little group, looking suspiciously amused. "I, um, I just have a stomach ache. Please excuse me." With that, Cressida disappeared towards the river. I could sense that she wasn't feeling well for another reason. "Sorry, I'll check on Cressida. I didn't like that sight at all." I hurried after my friend and caught up with her on the riverbank, where she was sobbing, staring at the current. Cressida and I had our friction but she was still my friend and seeing her like this broke my heart. "Hey, what's going on?" I asked worried, putting a hand on Cressida's shoulder. She glared at me angrily. If looks could kill. "Don't you have to keep flirting with Sebastian?", she spat at me. "What do Sebastian and I have to do with your obviously bad mood?" I felt strongly offended by her dismissive words. "It's just so mean! You two flirt at every opportunity, touch each other, just dance together like that and are obviously in love with each other and me!? Garreth doesn't even look his ass at me. Why can't he just return my feelings?" "But you don't know if he doesn't feel the same way about you as you do about him," I tried to calm the brunette down. "And if I know that! I asked him last night to go to the party with me and do you know what he did? He ran away! I didn't even get an answer, but his flight was all I needed to know his answer." Now the tears, like the river before us, flowed in torrents down Cressida's cheeks. Garreth the coward, may experience something if I can get my hands on him! "Oh Cressida, I'm so sorry." Soothingly, I hugged her tightly, which she returned and sobbed loudly again, soaking my shoulder with salty tears. "Are you alright?" Nellie, Natty and Poppy came over and looked worried when they noticed Cressida was crying her eyes out. "What happened?" Nellie asked. "Garreth is an asshole, that's what happened." Cressida told the other three about last night and how Garreth ran away like a chicken. Nellie stared at Cressida in disbelief. "You are kidding me! He's got some nerves! You know what? Weasley will regret that. Now we're going to find you a stunning dress, dress you up for the party and we're going to have the best night of our lives with no stupid boys who don't deserve shit, damn it!" Nellie's little speech got a little giggle out of us all. Cressida nodded in agreement and wiped the rest of the tears from her face.

All linked together, Cressida the golden mean between Nellie and me, we strolled through the alleys of Hogsmeade. Gladrags Wizardwear was our first port of call when looking for new clothes. "Ah, the saviour of Hogsmeade! What can I do for you today?", Mr Hill greeted me, which made me extremely uncomfortable. "Hello, Mr Hill. We're looking for new clothes for Halloween at Hogwarts." "Excellent! I just received new stock from London this morning. Take your time and look around." We swarmed around the little shop like bees collecting nectar in search of the perfect dress. There were many beautiful dresses on display in all imaginable colours, but none were 100% mine. Poppy was the first to find it. Holding up a sage-coloured ball gown with brightly coloured floral appliqués, she squealed in delight and disappeared into a dressing room. Eagerly we continued to look for our perfect dresses and after a short time, I only saw a sky-blue tail scurry past me. In the same direction that Poppy had gone earlier. "Do you think this would suit me?", Cressida asked uncertainly, holding a blood-red dress. "The colour is definitely yours", Natty encouraged our friend. "Try it on." And with that, Cressida disappeared into a changing room. Natty seemed to be eyeing a lilac one, noting that I still hadn't found a dress. "How about this?", she suggested, pulling out a black lace-trimmed fabric and placing it in my hand. Together we followed the other three to try on the dresses. In my cabin, I eyed the piece of cloth sceptically. At least you can never go wrong with black. I took a deep breath and then slipped into the dress. It was a floor-length A-line with a lace-trimmed bodice and sheer sleeves, which were also trimmed with black lace. I looked at myself in the mirror and realized I didn't look bad at all. "Y/N, come out and show yourself! We all want to see it", Natty called out in front of my cabin. With one last look in the mirror, I stepped out of the dressing room and was greeted by four stunning young women with amazed faces. "Wow Y/N. You look stunning." My confidence grew with every second in that dress. Even if I didn't suspect it at first, this was my dress. "Thanks, Poppy. I'm happy to give that back." Poppy's dress fit her perfectly. I appraised my other friends who had also found the perfect dresses. Nellie wore a sky-blue dress with a trumpet cut, the corset of which was also laced and ran downwards. Cressida's crimson dress turned out to be an I-line and glittered with every movement. Natty's lilac empire line was kept simple and flattered her dark complexion. "Ladies! You look stunning!" Mr. Hill floated around the corner and clasped his hands in front of his chest. "Thank you, Mr Hill. The dresses are really amazing", I smiled at the shop owner.

A few minutes later we were strolling through Hogsmeade again. Mr Hill wanted to send the clothes to us by owl so that they could be transported professionally and not crumpled up in shopping bags. "Well, I don't know about you, but I could use a Butterbeer right now", Nellie suggested eagerly, and the rest of us enthusiastically agreed. We spent another relaxing day in the small magician's village without further incidents.